Very good news here. Although it may be counterintuitive to some this actually supports President Park's "trustpolitik." Everything that President Park does in regards to north Korea must rest on the foundation of ROK/US Military Alliance. The north has to know that there is no daylight in the Alliance and that its strategy to split the Alliance has not and will not work. This is a first step toward attacking the north's strategy to split the Alliance. Every time the north ratchets up tension or conducts a provocation must be have a response that shows the strength of the Alliance is only enhanced by the north's action. Not everything requires a direct military response (though I am happy to see the ROK military response described in the excerpt below) but careful thought must be given in each case to show the strength of the Alliance and that the north's strategy is failing. Only then can President Park's "trustpolitik" policy have a chance of working. Every action the ROK takes must be from a position of "rock solid" strength and that strength is derived from the ROK/US Alliance.
Gen. Jung said the North's military threats are for real.
"We are ready to sternly retaliate North Korea's provocations as this plan was completed," he said. "This plan allows South Korean and U.S. forces to respond more strongly than when they had separate plans."
According to the new plan, South Korea's military is set to play a more active role in taking any counteractions against "the origin of North Korean provocation and surrounding forces in the first stage."
This last sentence is key because when the north conducts a military provocation that is a direct attack on the South such as what happened at Y-P Do in 2010, the ROK military must "win" the tactical engagement and that means a rapid response at the point of provocation – time and place.
"The South Korean military's operational plan now calls for striking the origin of the enemy's provocation and supporting and command forces," a senior South Korean defense ministry official said. "Depending on the type of provocations and operational circumstance, the U.S. with its weapons can strike North Korean territories."
V/R
Dave
S. Korea, U.S. sign combined operational plan against N. Korea
2013-03-24 12:00
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http://m.yna.co.kr/mob2/en/contents_en.jsp?cid=AEN20130322011000315&domain=3&ctype=A&site=0100000000
The militaries of South Korea and the United States said Sunday they have worked out a new joint operational plan that details how they should cooperate to deal with North Korean provocations.
The Combined Counter-Provocation Plan, signed between South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jung Seung-jo and Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the U.S. Forces in South Korea, went into effect immediately.
"By completing this plan, we improved our combined readiness posture to allow us to immediately and decisively respond to any North Korean provocation," the Combined Forces Command (CFC) of the two allies said in a statement. "The completed plan includes procedures for consultation and action to allow for a strong and decisive combined Republic of Korea-U.S. response to North Korean provocations and threats."
The allies have been working on the plan since 2010 when North Korea torpedoed the South Korean warship Cheonan and bombarded the South's border island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea. A total of 50 South Koreans, 48 of them soldiers, were killed.
The need to strengthen military cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. has gained new urgency amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula following a series of North Korean military provocations.
The Combined Counter-Provocation Plan, signed between South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jung Seung-jo and Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the U.S. Forces in South Korea, went into effect immediately.
"By completing this plan, we improved our combined readiness posture to allow us to immediately and decisively respond to any North Korean provocation," the Combined Forces Command (CFC) of the two allies said in a statement. "The completed plan includes procedures for consultation and action to allow for a strong and decisive combined Republic of Korea-U.S. response to North Korean provocations and threats."
The allies have been working on the plan since 2010 when North Korea torpedoed the South Korean warship Cheonan and bombarded the South's border island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea. A total of 50 South Koreans, 48 of them soldiers, were killed.
The need to strengthen military cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. has gained new urgency amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula following a series of North Korean military provocations.
North Korea has recently been ratcheting up war rhetoric almost daily in response to new U.N. sanctions for its third nuclear test in February and recent joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises which it denounced as invasion preparations.
Gen. Jung said the North's military threats are for real.
"We are ready to sternly retaliate North Korea's provocations as this plan was completed," he said. "This plan allows South Korean and U.S. forces to respond more strongly than when they had separate plans."
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